"Dinosaur Doctor" Heo Min Appointed Head of National Heritage Administration... First Paleontologist in the Role

The Only Korean Honorary Member of the Geological Society of London
Served as a Key Member of Lee Jae Myung's Think Tank in the Last Presidential Election

Heo Min (64), a professor in the Department of Earth Environmental Sciences at Chonnam National University who was appointed as the head of the National Heritage Administration on July 13, is a paleontologist known as the "Dinosaur Doctor." He majored in geology at Chonnam National University and earned doctoral degrees in paleontology from Korea University and the University of Wales in the United Kingdom. For over 30 years, he has worked as a paleontologist, widely promoting research on dinosaurs in Korea to the world.

Professor Heo Min, former co-chairman of the think tank "Growth and Integration" led by Lee Jae Myung and a professor in the Department of Earth Environmental Sciences at Chonnam National University, is being interviewed by Asia Economy at an office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Heo Younghan

In particular, in 2003, while serving as the director of the Korea Dinosaur Research Center at Chonnam National University, he discovered dinosaur fossils at the Bibong Dinosaur Egg Fossil Site in Boseong-gun, Jeollanam-do, which are believed to have lived on the Korean Peninsula during the late Cretaceous period. These fossils were named "Koreanosaurus Boseongensis."

In recognition of his contributions, Professor Heo was selected as an honorary member of the Geological Society of London twice, in 2017 and 2020. He is the only Korean to have received this honor in the 200-year history and tradition of the society.

In 2022, as the director of the Korea Dinosaur Research Center at Chonnam National University, he also achieved the world's first proof of pterosaur social behavior. At the Seoyu-ri dinosaur fossil site in Hwasun-gun, Jeollanam-do, which dates back to the Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic era, he discovered a cluster of more than 350 pterosaur footprints, each measuring 2 to 6 centimeters in size.

During the last presidential election, he served as a key member of Lee Jae Myung's think tank. He held positions as co-chairman of "Growth and Integration," co-chairman of the Balanced Development Committee, and chairman of the Climate Crisis Response Committee. This is the first time that a paleontologist has been appointed as the head of the National Heritage Administration or its predecessor, the Cultural Heritage Administration.